โGarry, itโs Alan. Look, Iโm calling because I just felt the need to tell someone that Iโm forty-four years old, and about an hour ago, for the first time in my life, I put suntan lotion on my ass. Iโll explain later. Bye.โ
In Clothing Optional, Alan Zweibel offers a collection of laugh-out-loud personal narratives, essays, short fiction, dialogues, and even a few whimsical drawings. Zweibel first made a name for himself as one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, but his careerโs humble beginnings included creating one-liners for Catskill comedians at seven dollars a pop. That experience is only one of the hysterically inspired anecdotes (โComic Dialogueโ) in this quirky compilation.
Zweibel confesses his first love, as a young Hebrew school student, for Abrahamโs wife, Sarah (โAt this point, Sarahโs husband had been dead for more than three thousand yearsโso, really, who would I be hurting?โ); recounts the time he was sent to a nudist resort to write an article (โThe fact that I brought luggage is, in itself, worthy of some discussionโ); offers a touching tribute to Saturday Night Live writer and mentor Herb Sargent (โHerb was New York. But an older, more romantic New York that took place in black and white like the kind of TV I grew up on and wanted to be a part of somedayโ); and imagines a scenario in which Sergeant Joe Friday, the stiff, monotoned character from Dragnet, is inexplicably partnered with Snoop Dogg (โDamn, Friday. You gotta learn to chill. Take some free time and kick it with your boysโ)
Every piece is punctuated with the same wit and insight that have come to define Zweibelโs humor.
Unhinged and hilarious, Clothing Optional is an unguided tour through the uniquely peculiar life and mind of a man who The New York Times said โhas earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture.โ
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